No Better, No Worse
by LostInLost18
Summary: Faberry friendship. Set in the series finale. After their performance, Rachel and Quinn accidentally get trapped in a room together, which gets worse as Quinn starts to go into labour, leaving Rachel no choice but to deliver her baby.


No Better, No Worse

Summary: Due to an unfortunate accident after their performance at Regionals, Rachel and Quinn are accidentally trapped in a room together. As if that isn't bad enough, Quinn's baby is being born, and the two of them will learn a little something about friendship, family, and respect. Faberry friendship, 'cause, frankly, I don't really understand the appeal of these two as a ship. :P Also includes a bit of Finchel and some Quick.

* * *

Rachel held onto Finn, still revelling in the lights, the music, the applause. She was in awe of it all, even though she knew this was only a fraction of what she surely would get in the future. Years from now, she'd be on some Broadway stage, flowers being pelted at her from every row, every stall, and the applause would just go on, and on, and on…

Surely, the amount of effort and talent that had gone into the performance would merit them a win? It had to… Vocal Adrenaline may have been extremely talented (she would know, having dated one of the members) but there was no life, no soul in their performance.

As soon as they were given the signal, New Directions piled off the stage, their spirits high. Rachel had stars in her eyes just imagining the repercussions of actually winning Regionals. They wouldn't be dubbed the school's losers anymore; they would go onto Nationals, which would make Regionals look lacklustre in terms of the scale of applause, and the amount of talent on display; she would be remembered as the captain who led New Directions, a formerly humble and deadbeat group, to victory…

She let out a little squeal of excitement as she allowed herself to lose herself in the fantasy of that moment. Everybody passed her, their own exciting chatter merely adding to her own.

An odd sound caught her attention midway through planning her own award winning speech. Someone seemed to be crying, or grunting, one of the two, and the sound was coming from one of the spare rooms behind the stage. Her starry smile caving into a look of curiosity, Rachel warily moved forwards, searching for the source of the noise. She spotted some of Vocal Adrenaline piling onto the stage as she moved past, the urge to just rub it in boiling up inside her until she remembered they hadn't exactly won yet.

Peering into one of the empty rooms, Rachel spotted Quinn over in the corner, sitting on the single chair in the room, her eyes wide, her mouth slack. She wore an expression which seemed entirely indifferent, which would've fooled Rachel had she not spotted the tears coming from the corners of her eyes.

"Quinn?" She approached her carefully. "Are you okay? Why aren't you celebrating our sure victory over Vocal Adrenaline?"

"Because, man-hands, we haven't won yet," Quinn snapped, avoiding the girl's eyes. "Why must you turn everything into a show? We've not won yet, and Vocal Adrenaline haven't performed yet?"

They both pricked up their ears as they heard the faint, harmonious sounds of Vocal Adrenaline's number, _Bohemian Rhapsody. Hm, not exactly original, _Rachel mused critically, _but the various counterparts to the sound, the range of notes, the length of the song itself will allow them to demonstrate their wide range of skills. _Her heart gave a familiar pang as she realized Jesse would've picked that song for those reasons and more.

"Why are you upset?" Rachel asked, closing the door behind them so they could keep this conversation private.

"None of your business," Quinn said shortly.

"Really? Are you going to play the solitary card now?" Rachel demanded. "After all the support I've shown you even though you clearly hate me. Look, if you don't respect me, at least respect the fact that we're in Glee club together. We should be able to talk, Quinn."

Quinn clearly was struggling to bite back a sarcastic response, although her face visibly softened at Rachel's words. They both listened as the sounds of _Bohemian Rhapsody _floated underneath the door, their expressions changing simultaneously to a mixture of resignation and horror. Vocal Adrenaline were pretty damn talented, which meant first place was no longer a certainty.

"My mum came to see me just now," she said after a while. "Said she was leaving my father and she wanted me to move back in."

"Oh." Rachel, having never had many girl friends before, didn't know to respond. "I take it you don't know what to do."

"She wants me to keep the baby," Quinn burst out. "I told her I'm putting this baby up for adoption, but it's like she won't even listen. She wasn't there for me when I needed her, so why should I be there for her?"

Rachel made a few sympathetic noises of agreement, not really sure what to say or do that wouldn't make her sound like a lousy friend. She couldn't really relate, considering she had two gay dads and a pretty good life at home (school was another matter entirely). Of course, she did have a mother who had stated it was best not to get into a relationship, but she'd held her head up high (even though it had crushed her) through that.

"What you do with the baby is your choice, Quinn," she told her firmly. "My mother decided she wanted to give me away to a family who would love and treasure me. That was her decision. Don't be swayed by popular opinion. I think, for the record, you'd have made an amazing mother, but you should do what you - Oh, God, Quinn, what's wrong?"

Quinn had suddenly lurched forward, having heard nothing of Rachel's speech, her entire face losing its colour rapidly. She clutched her stomach and let out a loud howl of pain.

"Oh, God, Quinn, you're in labour!" Rachel yelled, looking nauseous.

"Gee, ya think?" Quinn snarled, letting out a few rapid breaths, trying to calm herself down.

"I'll go get help," Rachel insisted, trying the door.

It was locked.

"The door's shut," she said, fiddling with it desperately. "I can't get it open."

"Try it again," Quinn said, between breaths of pain. "I'm not giving birth in what is essentially a giant closet!"

Rachel fiddled with the door some more, then realized what the problem was. The door had self-locked when she'd closed it, and the lock had broken, which meant the door was jammed shut. She attempted to kick the door down but her feet did nothing more than violently shake it. It wasn't breaking down in a hurry.

"What's taking so long, Berry?" Quinn yelled, now in the grips of absolute agony.

"I can't get the door open, but it'll be okay," Rachel said, taking charge, even though she absolutely couldn't stand the sight of blood. "We can call for help."

"How'd you figure that out? Our cell phones are in the bags we left in the dressing room," Quinn snarled, her face relaxing as the pain momentarily seemed to leave her.

"I'll try again," Rachel said resolutely. "We can get through this."

Quinn watched her vainly try and prise the door open with her fingernails, lurching forwards as another surge of pain gripped her. She grunted, feeling like a thousand knives were stabbing her all over her body, specifically in the stomach area.

"Leave it, Berry," she commanded, in the middle of a contraction. "We're just gonna have to wait." "Wait? WAIT?" Rachel yelled, looking panicky. "By that time, you could have given birth… We need to, I dunno, find a window…"

Quinn didn't have the heart to tell her that this was a windowless room. Instead, she watched as Rachel fruitlessly searched for some kind of exit, secretly amazed that Rachel Berry, of all people, was in a situation she couldn't handle. Quinn felt a smidge of sympathy for her… A smidge which was promptly wiped away by the amount of sheer pain she was in right now.

She had a dark desire to find Puck when this was all over and kick him in the balls, just so she could get a small pittance of revenge for what he'd done to her. Never had she been in so much pain before and it was made worse by the fact she was stuck with Rachel Berry, of all people.

"Okay, there's no window…" Rachel said in a small voice. "Guess we'll just have to wait for help."

"I think my baby's coming now," Quinn panted. "Help's not gonna come in time, Berry."

"Don't say that! You don't know that!" Rachel said, visibly sweating.

"What's your problem, you never seen a baby being born or something?" Quinn demanded.

"I can't stand the sight of blood, Quinn," Rachel replied haughtily. "Why would I want to watch a baby being born? It's a gruesome, yet miraculous, process. My daddies were there at my birth and…well, it sounds unpleasant." "Thanks for making me feel better…" Quinn grunted.

Hesitantly - because she was clearly torn between making a dash through the wall and just covering her eyes full stop - Rachel made her way over to Quinn's side and inhaled deeply, before reaching underneath her costume and retrieving a balled up animal sweater.

"I always carry this around," she said, swallowing loudly. "It brings me good luck. We can - God help me now - use it as substitution for a towel."

Quinn eyed her suspiciously, the latest contraction fading away.

"What's your angle, Berry? What are you saying?"

"I'm saying I'm gonna deliver your baby," Rachel said strongly, although a faint whimper escaped her lips. "I think…"

/./././././

Filled with euphoria at their performance, Finn went around high-fiving various members of the group, looking for Rachel so he could give her another hug. She wasn't there, however, which was odd.

"Anyone seen Rachel?" he asked the rest of the group, who were chattering excitedly amongst themselves.

"Which one's Rachel?" Brittany whispered to Santana, who rolled her eyes.

"It's _man-hands_, Britt."

"Oh….I didn't know she had two names…"

"I think she went off to freshen up," Tina suggested.

"Or spy on Vocal Adrenaline," Santana put in, disinterested. "Probably wants to get a glimpse of Jesse St. Gorgeous." She sighed. "No matter what that boy did, he clearly has a face only this momma could handle."

"That's not helpful, Santana," Finn sighed, looking around before deciding Rachel had gone to the bathroom or something.

He was still reeling from their duet of _Faithfully, _how she'd meant every single word she sung to him. It'd been like the words had been crafted especially for them. He'd never related to a song so well since _Jessie's Girl_, and that song just served dark reminders of that moron Jesse.

"Hey, guys," Mr Schuester called cheerfully, as he entered the room. "You guys were fantastic! The audience really seemed to love you."

"And why wouldn't they?" Puck said casually. "We were awesome!"

The rest of the group agreed and started to chatter amongst themselves, each of them looking excited, the euphoria of performing not having worn off yet.

"Where's Rachel and Quinn?" Mr Schuester asked suddenly, noticing they were down by two members.

"Bathroom?" Tina suggested.

"Outside, getting some air?" Artie chipped in.

"Ogling Jesse probably… OW!"

"Stop mentioning that loser, Santana!" Finn snapped.

"You hit me again, Hudson, and I'm gonna slap you in the mouth."

"Guys, guys, guys!" Mr Schuester yelled. "Calm it down please. Listen, Vocal Adrenaline are still performing. We need to find Quinn and Rachel in time to hear the results. Girls, check the bathroom…"

Tina, Brittany and Santana scurried off, which left the rest of the room to gossip about the judges, and which way the voting was gonna go down. The main problem was Sue, who'd taken it upon herself to attempt to destroy the Glee club on numerous occasions. Therefore, they could strictly count her vote out. Olivia Newton-John was an uncertainty. She seemed alright, but then again you never knew with celebrity judges.

"Whichever way the vote goes down guys," Mr Schuester said, putting on his serious face. "Know that we've had a brilliant year together. You've all come out of your shells and shown McKinley you don't have to just be one thing or the other. You can have the best of both worlds. That, if nothing else, will be your victory tonight."

"But if we lose…" Puck began.

"Then we lose," Mr Schuester stated calmly. "What will disappoint me is not if you lose, but if you lose and not take on board any of the lessons being in Glee club has taught you. Like how to stand up for each other, or that there's so much more to people than basic stereotypes." He smiled. "I'll be proud of you no matter what happens tonight."

All of a sudden, Tina scurried back into the room, her face conveying uncertainty.

"Mr Schue…? Quinn and Rachel aren't in the bathroom."

"What?" Finn jumped in. "Then, where the hell are they?"

/./././././

"Damn you, Puckerman, damn you to hell!" Quinn roared, her face murderously angry.

She was on the floor now, switching from panting to cursing at every given moment, her legs wide apart. Rachel hovered near her, terrified to even kneel down, so she took to alternating between being a supporting friend, and a supporting friend, terrified of blood, trying to be a midwife.

"Breathe, Quinn," she chanted. "Breathe, breathe, breathe…"

Quinn glared at her but did as she was told. If Puck had been in here right now, she felt like she could've found the strength to wrap her hands around his neck and actually kill him. How could men do this to women? How sadistic were they?

"Right, I think the contractions are getting close now," Rachel said, trying to sound like she knew what she was doing. "It's time you start pushing…I think."

"_You think?" _Quinn snarled. "How very reassuring, Berry!"

She screamed with pain again, which seemed to be drowned out by Vocal Adrenaline's very vocal performance of their next song which sounded like _Don't Stop Me Now_. If so, it was a sneaky move on their part; everyone knew doing a Queen medley was always a crowd favourite, and not something you could easily butcher, even if you were tone deaf.

"I'm trying here!" Rachel cried, feeling like she was going to pass out. Then, more calmly, she said, "Take my hand, Quinn."

Quinn didn't have the strength or energy to argue. She put her hand in Rachel's (surprised by how small and dainty they actually were; damn, that put an end to that nickname) and squeezed hard, her face scrunched up so hard, she managed to resurrect long forgotten tears. They joined with the beads of sweat and ran down her face.

With gentle hands, Rachel lifted back her hair and tied it back, whispering that she thought it would help a little. Quinn bit back another sarcastic response, secretly touched by the lengths Rachel was going to in order to make her feel as comfortable as possible. She eyed the animal sweater just beneath her feet, wishing her baby's first view of the world didn't have to include that.

"Rachel?" Finn's voice suddenly reached their ears. "Quinn? Where are you guys? This isn't funny!"

"Finn!" Rachel was up by the door. "We're in here."

They heard his footprints stop.

"Where? In here?" He rattled the door handle. "Why are you in here?"

"I'm in labour, jackass!" Quinn screeched. "Get help! We're stuck in here!"

"What?" Finn sounded panicked. "Oh…crap! I'll get Mr Schue. Wait there!"

"It's not like we have a choice!" Quinn snapped, her face now bright red as she started to push.

Rachel was by her feet at once, humming a song underneath her breath to keep them both calm. Quinn's suddenly ferocity disappeared as the pain intensified.

"It hurts, Rachel," she moaned.

"I know, Quinn, I know," Rachel soothed, silently rejoicing at Quinn using her first name for once. "It'll be over soon."

Rachel tore off her headband and used it (for lack of anything better) to dab down Quinn's forehead, which was hot and sweaty. She gripped her hand again and encouraged her to push again. In amidst the grunts and the groans, however, Rachel heard sobs, and she remembered that Quinn was still very much a little girl herself, teetering on the edge of adulthood. _No one should be made to grow up this fast, _she thought to herself.

"Damn. That. Noah. Puckerman!" Quinn grunted, during each moment of respite she was given.

"Keep pushing, Quinn," Rachel said, briefly checking to see whether she could see any sign of the baby.

"Pervert!" Quinn snarled.

"I'm trying to deliver your baby, Quinn, not sexually assault you," Rachel snapped. "Now, if you quit snapping at me all the time, maybe we can get this baby out of you."

Quinn deflated, her face looking worn out and ragged. She looked thirty in that moment, not a sixteen going on seventeen year old girl. Sweat poured down her face and she felt so unattractive she could almost cry.

"I see a head," Rachel suddenly said, sounding excited. "Come on, one last push and I think your baby will be here."

Quinn thought of everything good she had in her life - Glee club, Finn (even though she'd lost him forever), Puck (even though he'd knocked her up) and the beautiful life she was about to present to the world - and gritted her teeth for the last time. She inhaled deeply and then pushed, her entire energy going into dispelling her child from her body. She felt Rachel grip her hand tightly, but carried on pushing, although the sudden urge to cry temporarily distracted her.

She carried on pushing for about five minutes solid, her breathing coming out in short, harsh gasps.

"That's good, Quinn, you're doing fine," Rachel said encouragingly.

Then she gasped, suddenly grabbing her sweater as something caught her eye. Quinn fell back, exhausted, wondering what it was Rachel had spotted, her mind too exhausted to comprehend the fact that it was all over.

Rachel's head re-emerged and she gently managed to bring into view a beautiful baby. Quinn's eyes widened as she beheld her child. Her baby was here; she'd really given birth.

"It's a girl," Rachel announced. "Wanna hold her?"

"What about the umbilical cord?" Quinn asked pointedly, too tired to understand what she'd just said.

"I don't know…" Rachel barely hid her disgust at the sight of the cord, which made Quinn smile weakly.

"There's some scissors over here," she said, reaching for the small pair. "Guess this must've been a former tech room or something. Wait a second…" She wiped the scissors down, before handing them to Rachel.

"Ideally, Puck should be doing this, since this is his mess," Rachel grumbled, gently snipping the cord..

"Tell me about it," Quinn grumbled. "When I get out of here…" She yawned loudly, her eyes blinking themselves into focus to stop herself from just passing out.

"Want to hold her?" Rachel asked eagerly.

"Yeah, sure," Quinn said, sitting up a little bit. "Is she okay?"

The baby let out a sharp cry and Rachel almost dropped her in alarm (which Quinn scowled at her for). Then, after a moment, the baby started to fidget, which Rachel took as her cue to pass her over to her exhausted, but pleased, mother.

"Hello, baby girl," Quinn whispered, stroking the top of her daughter's head.

She started to cry all of a sudden, overwhelmed by everything that had happened.

"Hey…what's wrong?" Rachel asked, looking concerned.

"Nothing," Quinn sniffed. "I guess it's my stupid hormones. My midwife told me after the birth, they get all crazy and stuff like that."

They heard voices outside the door, Finn's discernible from the crowd. There was a lot of mumbling, before Puck's voice announced that he could take it from here. Rachel and Quinn exchanged a look before the door came shattering down and the rest of New Directions piled in.

Puck stared down at Quinn and the baby in her arms, struggling to find the right words to say.

"Are you girls okay?" Mr Schuester asked, looking concerned.

"Yeah," Quinn replied. "Every muscle aches, and I can't stop crying, but I'm okay, Mr Schue."

"There's an ambulance on its way, Quinn. We'll get you to hospital soon."

"Is that our - ?" Puck asked in hushed tones.

"That's our little girl," Quinn said, her voice constricted, "Wanna hold her?"

Puck nodded, and Quinn carefully passed their baby girl up to him.

"It's a baby," he said, over and over, as he stared at the tiny child within his arms. "It's my baby…"

"Rachel, did you deliver this baby?" Mr Schuester asked Rachel, who was dabbing at her eyes.

"Yes, Mr Schue," Quinn interrupted, smiling at Rachel. "She did."

An astonished murmur flickered through the group, broken only by Brittany stepping forward and asking Rachel, without a single trace of irony to her voice;

"Are you a stork? 'Cause my mom always told me babies are delivered in the mouths of storks, and sometimes they don't always get there on time and sometimes the storks take them back to their nests and they become stork babies."

Rachel and Quinn exchanged a look, before laughing out loud at how funny - and a bit dorky - Brittany could be at times. Puck barely noticed, so enraptured was he by the life he helped create, which broke Quinn's heart a little because she knew nothing had changed. They weren't ready to be parents yet, and the best they could do by their daughter was to make sure she went to people who were.

"The ambulance people are here," Mercedes called, sticking her head out of the door.

"Okay, everyone. Let's give Quinn and Puck some privacy," Mr Schuester said, hushing everyone out.

Rachel gave Quinn a parting smile before following the group out. Quinn stared after her, wishing she had at least had some time to thank her before everyone had descended on them. Maybe it was for the best, though. Once this baby had gone to a good home, she had to work on restoring her popularity again, not to mention restoring her body to its former glory.

"She's beautiful," Puck said, looking absolutely star struck. "You can tell me the truth: did Berry actually deliver your baby?"

"Well it's not like I could deliver it myself," Quinn retorted, rolling her eyes. "But, yeah, she did."

"Seriously? We talking about the same Rachel Berry? The one who once ran out of the room squealing because I tried to show her my neat paper cut?" Puck raised an eyebrow. "Well, I'll be damned."

"Language, Puckerman," Quinn reprimanded, gesturing for him to return her daughter. "You'll disturb Beth."

"You like the name?" he said, smiling. "Really?"

"Yeah," she smiled up at him, "I like the name."

/./././././

Regionals didn't turn out to be as successful as they'd planned. Vocal Adrenaline came first, stealing the trophy from underneath them, but in the end it hadn't really mattered. Sue had persuaded Figgins to give the Glee club another year - a move which had surprised everyone - and so, surprised and excited by the prospect of returning to Glee for the new year, they all huddled back into the last Glee rehearsal of the term. Quinn had bidden a surprisingly emotional farewell to Beth, who'd ended up being adopted by Rachel's mother - who would've known? - and was fully concentrating on getting back in shape now that she no longer sported a baby bump.

"Hey, guys." Mr Schuester entered the room. "Since this is the last Glee club session of the year, I wanted to give you your summer assignment."

There was a collective groan around the group until Mr Schuester raised a hand and looked around, wearing a faint look of pride on his face.

"You haven't heard what it is yet."

He looked from Rachel and Finn - who were so close together now, even Brittany understood they were together - to Quinn, who was wearing a dreamy smile as she imagined herself in her Cheerios uniform again, and smiled as he recalled the group's accomplishments over the year.

"The assignment is to enjoy yourselves over the summer," he told them. "By, all means, use this time to be social, be free, but I want you to remember all you've accomplished during this year alone. When we make our comeback, I want us to be at a place where we can literally soar past Regionals and get to Nationals. Have a good summer, guys."

Everyone laughed and immediately started talking over each other, mostly discussing plans for the summer. Kurt and Mercedes led the group as they exited the room, whilst Finn, Rachel, Quinn and Puck led the rear.

"Wait a minute," Quinn said, reaching out and grabbing Rachel's arm. "Mind if I have a word?"

Rachel looked surprised but nodded at Finn that she would be okay and, looking like they were friends again, he and Puck promptly exited the room too, leaving the girls to it.

"I want to thank you for what you did," Quinn said, looking and feeling extremely awkward.

"It's okay, Quinn," Rachel said, raising herself up to the girl's height. "That's what friends do for each other. I know we're not exactly friends, but it's something I would do for anyone in Glee."

"Even Santana?" Quinn asked, raising an eyebrow.

Rachel shuddered at that image; Santana in childbirth. God, she was bitchy now, she daren't think about what Santana would be like in that much intense pain. She might just actually kill someone.

"Okay, maybe not Santana," she rectified, which actually provoked a laugh from Quinn.

"Well, I've gotta run," Quinn said, motioning to the door.

"This doesn't change anything does it?" Rachel suddenly asked, keeping her face impassive, expressionless.

"It won't be any better, no," Quinn admitted. "I need to do some serious damage control with both my body and my reputation. But I can say it won't get any worse." She gave her a half smile. "Just for the record Ber- Rachel," she automatically corrected herself, "if you're ever in this situation, I'd do the same for you."

Rachel gave her a smile and watched as she left the room, shuddering as the memories of that day started to haunt her. Childbirth was disgusting, although the end result was beautiful and miraculous. She didn't know if she could ever put herself through that.

But it was nice to know she had a sort of, maybe, almost friend she could count on to be there if she ever did.

- The End -


End file.
